Mature Health Economics Groups Align with Successful Product Launches

December 19, 2012 11:23 AM Eastern Standard Time

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pharmaceutical companies can no longer launch a product without
providing managed markets organizations detailed health
economics and cost-effectiveness metrics, according to a new study.
This is how health economics teams began to form; when companies realize
the importance of collecting this data to clear the way for a product’s
launch.

Cutting Edge Information’s recent study, “Health Economics and Outcomes
Research: Aligning Clinical and Commercial to Meet Payer Demands and Win
Reimbursement,” found that drug companies only formalized their
pharmacoeconomics in the last 10 years. Pharmacoeconomics, also called
health economics, teams are now crucial entities within drug
manufacturers’ organizational structures.

“Our survey data shows that the average age of a health economics group
at US drug companies is 10.6 years,” said Michelle Vitko, senior
research analyst at Cutting Edge Information. “This means US
organizations that deal with multiple managed
markets have more mature health economics teams than those in
Europe, Australia and Canada.”

According to surveyed pharmaceutical companies, Top 20 drug
manufacturers have had health economics teams in place for the longest
time at more than 10 years. The longevity of Top 20 pharmacoeconomics
teams highlights these companies’ successes in global markets, due
partly to the health economics and outcomes research that they
conducted. Top 50 and smaller pharmaceutical companies have had these
teams for an average of seven and four years, respectively.

Medical device companies have felt similar pressure from payers in
recent years. The average team age at device companies is 5.4 years,
though two larger medical device companies profiled in Cutting Edge
Information’s study have had teams for eight and 10 years.

“Health Economics and Outcomes Research: Aligning Clinical and
Commercial to Meet Payer Demands and Win Reimbursement” (http://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/research/market-access/health-economics/)
explores HEOR teams across all company sizes, and in key geographic
areas. This study is designed to help companies build effective health
economics teams and improve their internal implementation, as well as
communication with payers. This study helps companies: